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CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1. Self-Direction in a Changing World. Chapter Overview. Social Change Living in a Technological World Living with Other Social Changes How Certain Is Our Future?. SELF-DIRECTION IN A CHANGING WORLD. The Challenge of Self-Direction Self-Direction and Society

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CHAPTER 1

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  1. CHAPTER 1 Self-Direction in a Changing World

  2. Chapter Overview • Social Change • Living in a Technological World • Living with Other Social Changes • How Certain Is Our Future? SELF-DIRECTION IN A CHANGING WORLD • The Challenge of Self-Direction • Self-Direction and Society • The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom • Taking Charge of Our Lives • Living in Today’s Individualistic Society • Themes of Personal Growth • Living with Contradictions and Uncertainty • Continuity and Change • The Experience of Personal Growth • Beyond Individualism

  3. CHAPTER SUMMARYSocial Change • Living in a Technological World • Living with Other Social Changes • How Certain Is Our Future?

  4. CHAPTER SUMMARYCONT’DThe Challenge of Self-Direction • Self-Direction and Society • The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom • Taking Charge of Our Lives • Living in Today’s Individualistic Society

  5. CHAPTER SUMMARY CONT’DThemes of Personal Growth • Living with Contradictions and Uncertainty • Continuity and Change • The Experience of Personal Growth • Beyond Individualism

  6. Social ChangeLiving in a Technological World • Social changes--changes in social patterns and institutions in society. • Technological, scientific, and social change is occurring world-wide. • The rate of change increases each decade. • Many changes have resulted in a smaller, more interdependent world community.

  7. Living in a Technological World • One of the greatest changes has been the vast increase in the use of technology. • Some people fear technology, however;this phenomenon is known as technophobia. • Individuals who are not well educated, poor, elderly or disabled are most likely to suffer from technophobia. • Many new jobs and opportunities require a knowledge of technology.

  8. Living with Other Social Changes • The world population will continue to climb. • As the population increases, so too will pollution. • The population will also experience more and more diversity. • Can you think of any other possible changes?

  9. How Certain Is Our Future? Is the glass half empty, or half full? Change has brought: • Technological, scientific, medical advances… • Global warming… • Economic prosperity… • Economic inequality…

  10. The Challenge of Self-DirectionSelf-Direction and Society • Self-direction--the need to learn more about ourselves and our world as a means of directing our lives more effectively. • Various factors can interfere with our need for self-direction. • Interpersonal or intergroup conflict is but one example.

  11. Self-Direction and Society For example, there are two general types of cultures or societies that sometimes conflict: • Individualistic--individual gain is sought after more than societal gain. • Collectivistic--collective or societal gain is more important than individual gain.

  12. Self-Direction and Society EXAMPLES Individualistic = United States Collectivistic = Japan

  13. The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom • In the United States, independence, freedom, and rugged individualism are celebrated. • Freedom, however, can be ambiguous. • Freedom, while laudable, can also make us anxious, lonely, and insecure.

  14. The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom • Freedom can inspire us to be afraid to make decisions and to face responsibilities. • Thus, we need to learn how to relate to others and to cooperate with them despite our desire for personal freedom.

  15. The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom • Individuals who are self-actualized enjoy their personal freedom and are comfortable with it, but relate well with and care about others. • Self-actualized individuals accept responsibility for their lives and carefully scrutinize alternatives available to them. They also possess the courage to admit when they are wrong or need to change. • Such individuals do not blame others or fate for personal problems. • Therefore such individuals experience more interpersonal closeness than do other citizens of individualistic societies.

  16. Taking Charge of Our Lives • Altruism generally plays a larger role in collective than in individualistic societies. • As counterintuitive as it sounds, then, acting on our personal freedom entails taking charge of and being responsible for our own and sometimes others’ lives. • An important and relevant concept is altruism, the desire to help others at a cost to ourselves.

  17. Taking Charge of Our Lives • Taking charge of our lives also involves taking calculated risks which can make us anxious. • Taking charge of our lives also means keeping commitments and promises to others. • Fortunately, living in a time of increasing technology provides us better and faster means to connect with others, even those who are a world away.

  18. Living in Today’s Individualistic Society ARE WE: • …more interpersonally connected because of technological advances? • …more self-absorbed and isolated? • …future-oriented? • …now-oriented? • …more concerned with personal rights? • …more concerned with social responsibilities?

  19. Themes of Personal GrowthLiving with Contradictions and Uncertainty • Each of us faces challenges and uncertainties. • An academic course such as the one you are in offers guidance about personal growth, personal freedom, and subsequent interdependence on others. • Life experiences also teach valuable lessons about how to alter our self-direction and personal growth.

  20. Continuity and Change • A key issue regarding human development is how much people change over the course of their lives. • Longitudinal studies (which follow the same individual for a long period of time) of personality development have found key traits that remain stable over a lifetime (e.g., extroversion). • At the same time, other studies claim that there are features of human development that fluctuate across time (self-esteem).

  21. The Experience of Personal Growth The experience of growth typically follows a three phase cycle: Acknowledging the change: • The first step in personal change. Change occurs all the time, but we are reminded to think about change in times of uncertainty and during decision-making.

  22. The Experience of Personal Growth A sense of dissatisfaction: • Many people respond to the challenge of change by being defensive or dissatisfied as well as by feeling anxious, but this need not be the case. This is the second step in personal growth.

  23. The Experience of Personal Growth Reorganizing our experience: • This final phase can be gratifying as we acquire new ideas and hence alter our behaviors, relations with others, attitudes, and values.

  24. Beyond Individualism • Growth is supposed to enlarge our self-understanding and enhance our relationships with others. • As inferred earlier, there is a contradiction between rugged individualism and the necessity of social contact with others. • The result of this contradiction has been a recent reassessment by Americans of the need to balance the desire for personal achievement with the need to be a good member of the world community.

  25. Human fulfillment and self-direction are indeed complex. This is the end of Chapter 1 BUT hopefully a new beginning for you!

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